Government Growth Statistics Overestimated

The Agriculture Department says it overestimated the amount of farm land that was developed between 1992 and 1997 by 30 percent and it blames faulty software for the mistake. The department initially reported that nearly 16 million acres of farm land were converted to development between 1992 and 1997 — a rate of 3.2 million per year. The correct figure, it turns out, is 11.2 million acres, a development rate of 2.2 million acres per year.